Meaning, Scope, Functions and Evolution of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management is the process of recruiting, selecting, inducting employees, providing orientation, imparting training and development, appraising the performance of employees, deciding compensation and providing benefits, motivating employees, maintaining proper relations with employees and their trade unions, ensuring employees safety, welfare and health measures in compliance with labour laws of the land. 

Human Resource Management involves management functions like planning, organizing, directing and controlling

• It involves procurement, development, maintenance of human resource
• It helps to achieve individual, organizational and social objectives
• Human Resource Management is a multidisciplinary subject. It includes the study of management, psychology, communication, economics and sociology.
• It involves team spirit and teamwork.
• It is a continuous process.

Why do we call it Human Resource Management?

Human: refers to the skilled workforce in an organization.

Resource: refers to limited availability or scarce.

Management: refers how to optimize and make the best use of such limited or scarce resource so as to meet the organizational goals and objectives.

Therefore, human resource management is meant for proper utilization of available skilled workforce and also to make efficient use of existing human resource in the organisation.

Scope of Human Resource Management

1. Procurement- It includes recruitment and selection of right kinds of personnel to occupy the various posts in the organization. It includes-

a. Determination of manpower requirement
b. Job Analysis
c. Nature & Scope of recruitment
d. Employee Selection
e. Placement of Employees

2. Training & Development- It is a must to prepare the employees to involve in the actual management situation, Enhancement of KSA (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities).

3. Job Analysis & Job Description- It involves the studies of job requirement of the enterprise and assignment of well-defined functions to the job.

4. Remuneration- Provision of adequate remuneration for the work done by the employee, involves job analysis & job evaluation. It includes determining wage rates, incentive systems of wage payment, merit rating, performance appraisal.

5. Personnel Records- Its functions include the collection of biodata of all employees pertaining to their work.

Ex: Training, Job Performance, Aptitude, Payment Records.

6. Welfare & Industrial relation- It includes health & safety programs, sanitary facilities, recreational facilities, group insurance, employee associations etc.

Industrial Relations

Functions of Human Resource Management

Evolution of Human Resource Management

The field of HRM as it currently exists represents a crystallization of a variety of historical and contemporary factors.

1. The Industrial Revolution-  During this period, machines bought in technology made rapid progress, jobs were more fragmented where the worker did only a small portion of the total jobs and specialization increased speed and efficiency but left workers with dull, boring, and monotonous jobs. Workers were treated like glorified machine tools.

2. Scientific Management- To improve efficiency and speed, F.W. Taylor advocated scientific management. Scientific management is nothing but a systematic analysis & breakdown of work into its smallest mechanical elements & rearranging them into their most efficient combination. In addition to the scientific study of the task, Taylor argued that individuals selected to perform the task should be as perfectly matched, physically & mentally to the requirements of the task as possible that over qualified individuals should be excluded.

3. Trade Unionism- Workers join hands to protect against the exploitative tendencies of employers and the prohibitive, unfair labour practices through the union. Unions tried to improve a lot of workers through collective bargaining, resolving the grievances of workers relating to working conditions, pay & benefits, disciplinary actions etc.

4. Human Relations Movement- The famous Hawthorne experiment conducted by Elton Mayo and his Harvard colleagues during 1930-40 demonstrated that employees' productivity was affected not only by the way the job was designed and the manner in which employees were rewarded economically but by certain social and psychological network.

5. Human Resource Approach- However, during the early 60s, the pet milk theory(advocating that happy workers are productive workers or happy cows give more milk) of human religionist had been largely rejected.

"The Human Resource Approach assumes that the job or the task itself is the primary source of satisfaction to the employees". This approach emphasizes the following things-

1. People don't inherently dislike work if they have helped establish objectives, they want to achieve them.
2. Most people can exercise a great deal, more self-direction, self-control and creativity than the requirement of their current job.
3. The Manager's basic job is to use the untapped human potential on the surface of the organization.
4. Managers should provide for self-direction by the subordinates and they must be encouraged to participate fully in all important matters.
5. Expanding subordinate, influence, self-direction, and self-control will lead to direct improvement in the operational efficiency.